The crowning achievement of Burr's command was the destruction of a British fort and the capture of nearly all its garrison at de Lancey's Mills (West Farms) -- a feat performed, like Wayne's storming of Stony Point, without tiring a musket. This fort was a block structure, built by Colonel de Lancey to protect his outposts at Morrisania. Burr, resolving to take it, reconnoitered it carefully, noting every feature of the ground and measuring with his eye the height of the port-holes, lie then prepared ladders, canteens filled with inflammables, rolls of port-fire, and hand-grenades. It was essential to effect his work quickly and without noise, as there were strongBritish forces in the surrounding country, which, if alarmed, would

FROM

JANUARY,

1779,

SEPTEMBER,

cut off his retreat. He arrived with his attacking party at two o'clock in the morning. He sent forward forty men under Captain Black, who rushed past the sentinels, placed the ladders against the fort, mounted them, hurled the combustibles (with slow matches attached) into the port-holes, and then threw the hand-grenades inside. Almost instantly the fort was on fire, and every man, except a few who escaped, surrendered. Not an American suffered injury. When it is remembered that West Farms is to the south of Kingsbridge, where thousands of the British were encamped, and that there were other posts of the enemy still farther above, the brilliant daring of this exploit will be well appreciated. in WestThe preceding brief account of Burr's memorable rCgimederives his chester County is digested from Parton, who, in turn, facts mainly from a most interesting descriptive letter written in 1814 by Samuel Youngs, of our Town of Mount Pleasant, to K. V. Youngs was a member of Burr's command. He sums up his Morris! narration as follows: The troops of whom he took command were undisciplined, negligent, and discontented.